You can recite “lo for direct, le for indirect” and still freeze when the sentence needs both. Spanish object pronouns practice is the missing step: say the chunk, place it, and check it before the conversation moves on.
This page is 32 drills with an answer key under each set. The rules live in “Lo vs Le in Spanish: Object Pronouns Explained.” Read that once if the labels are still fuzzy, then come back and produce the forms.
Quick answer: Write one person pronoun, then one thing pronoun: me, te, se, nos, or os, then lo, la, los, or las. Le and les become se in that first slot. The pair sits before a conjugated verb, or attaches to an infinitive, a gerund, or an affirmative command. On a negative command, the pair goes in front.
Drills use tú, yo, and nosotros. Usted shows up once in the mistakes section, labeled as usted. If you are learning Peninsular Spanish, os sits in the same slot as te: Os lo doy. (I give it to you all.) These items do not ask for os.
Spanish object pronouns practice starts with one chunk
Every double-pronoun answer on this page is the same shape. Pick one word from the first group and one from the second.
me / te / se / nos / os + lo / la / los / las
Me, te, nos, and os can be direct or indirect. In a double chunk, the first slot is the person and the second is the thing. Se in that first slot is what le and les become. You do not line up me then te then se in one sentence. One from the first group, one from the second.
Te lo doy.
(I give it to you.)
Se lo di.
(I gave it to him / her / usted / ustedes / them.)
The thing pronoun matches the noun, not the person. El mapa is masculine, so it is lo. La foto is feminine, so it is la. Las llaves is las. El problema and el mapa are masculine even though learners sometimes trust the ending more than the article. El agua is the trap in the other direction: the singular article is el, and the noun is still feminine, so the pronoun is la.
La traigo.
(I’m bringing it. — el agua)
Lo and la also replace people who are direct objects. Llamo a Lucía becomes La llamo, because the a there is the personal a, not “to Lucía.” The llamar chart stops at the verb. The pronoun is the piece these drills add.
In VerbPal we type me lo, te la, and se lo as whole chunks. A chart you recognise is a weaker test than a string you have to produce. Say the chunk before you touch the key.
Treat the pair as a train with two cars. The person car leaves first: me, te, se, nos, os. The thing car is coupled behind it: lo, la, los, las. If the person car was painted le or les, repaint it se before it couples to lo. Le lo never leaves the station. Se lo does.
Action step: Say five chunks out loud before drill 1: me lo, te la, se lo, nos las, os lo. Do not look back at the list while you say them.
Drill 1: Match lo, la, los, and las
Replace the direct object with lo, la, los, or las. Keep the verb as it is, and put the pronoun in front. The pronoun matches the noun in the sentence.
Drill 1: Direct object only
1. Veo el mapa. → _______
(I see the map.)
2. Tengo las llaves. → _______
(I have the keys.)
3. No entendemos el problema. → _______
(We don't understand the problem. Problema is masculine.)
4. ¿Comes la sopa? → _______
(Do you eat the soup?)
5. Llamo a Lucía. → _______
(I'm calling Lucía. She is the direct object.)
6. Traigo el agua. → _______
(I'm bringing the water. Agua is feminine.)
7. Ellos traen los libros. → _______
(They bring the books.)
8. Quiero la foto. → _______
(I want the photo.)
Show Answer Key: Drill 1
1. Lo veo. (I see it.) Mapa is masculine.
2. Las tengo. (I have them.) Llaves is feminine plural.
3. No lo entendemos. (We don't understand it.) Problema takes lo, same as el mapa.
4. ¿La comes? (Do you eat it?) Sopa is feminine. This is not ¿Te la comes? (Are you eating it up?). That te is the tú form of comerse, not part of this replacement.
5. La llamo. (I'm calling her.) Lucía is a direct object, so the pronoun is la. Le llamo is not the accepted form for a woman.
6. La traigo. (I'm bringing it.) Singular el agua still uses la. See the traer forms if traigo was the part that slipped.
7. Los traen. (They bring them.) Ellos los traen is the same answer with the subject kept.
8. La quiero. (I want it.) Foto is feminine.
Action step: Any item you missed, say the noun and the pronoun as a pair: el mapa, lo; el agua, la; las llaves, las. Then close the key and say the full sentence again.
Drill 2: Order me, te, le, and les
Items 9 and 10 replace only the person. Keep the thing as a noun. Le and les are correct there, because no lo/la is next to them yet.
Items 11 to 16 replace both. A mí, a ti, and a nosotros are in the prompt so you can see the person. The sentence you would actually say is the one in the key: person pronoun, then thing pronoun, then the verb.
Drill 2: Person first, thing second
9. Doy el libro a mi hermano. → _______
(I give the book to my brother. Replace only the brother.)
10. Explicamos la tarea a los estudiantes. → _______
(We explain the homework to the students. Replace only the students.)
11. Das el mapa a mí. → _______
(You give the map to me. Replace both.)
12. Presto las llaves a ti. → _______
(I lend the keys to you. Replace both.)
13. Ella regala el libro a nosotros. → _______
(She gives the book to us. Replace both.)
14. Digo la verdad a ti. → _______
(I tell the truth to you. Replace both.)
15. ¿Das las entradas a nosotros? → _______
(Do you give the tickets to us? Replace both.)
16. Traigo la cámara a ti. → _______
(I bring the camera to you. Replace both.)
Show Answer Key: Drill 2
9. Le doy el libro. (I give him the book.) Le doy el libro a mi hermano is also correct. The book stays a noun, so le does not change to se. Forms of dar here are doy and, later, di and dimos.
10. Les explicamos la tarea. (We explain the homework to them.) Les because there is more than one student. See explicar for explicamos and the preterite expliqué in the next set.
11. Me lo das. (You give it to me.) Me before lo, both before das.
12. Te las presto. (I lend them to you.) Llaves is feminine plural, so las.
13. Nos lo regala. (She gives it to us.) Ella nos lo regala keeps the subject and is the same answer.
14. Te la digo. (I tell it to you.) Verdad is feminine, so la, not lo.
15. ¿Nos las das? (Do you give them to us?) Entradas is feminine plural.
16. Te la traigo. (I bring it to you.) Cámara is feminine.
Action step: Cover the Spanish and answer from the English line only. If you can say Te las presto without looking at llaves, the gender is starting to stick.
Drill 3: Turn le and les into se
Replace both objects. The moment the thing is lo, la, los, or las, the le/les in the prompt becomes se. Le lo and les la are not Spanish.
Se here is the rewritten indirect pronoun. It is a different se from the one in Se me cayó el vaso. (I dropped the glass.) That se comes before me, and you do not “correct” it to me se. The map of those other uses is in How to Use “Se” in Spanish.
Lo/la/los/las still match the thing. Several people and one message is se lo, not se los.
Drill 3: Le and les become se
17. Le di el libro a Ana. → _______
(I gave the book to Ana. Both objects as pronouns.)
18. Les expliqué la regla a mis padres. → _______
(I explained the rule to my parents.)
19. Le presté las llaves a Pablo. → _______
(I lent the keys to Pablo.)
20. Les dimos el recado a los vecinos. → _______
(We gave the message to the neighbors. One message.)
21. Le trajiste la foto a tu madre. → _______
(You brought the photo to your mother.)
22. ¿Le regalaste las entradas a Lucía? → _______
(Did you give the tickets to Lucía?)
23. Le he dicho la verdad a Marcos. → _______
(I have told Marcos the truth.)
24. Les quiero explicar el problema. → _______ / _______
(I want to explain the problem to them. Give both placements.)
Show Answer Key: Drill 3
17. Se lo di. (I gave it to her.) Se lo di a Ana is also correct, because se can mean her, him, usted, ustedes, or them. Le lo di is not.
18. Se la expliqué. (I explained it to them.) Regla is feminine singular, so la stays singular even though padres is plural. Not se las.
19. Se las presté. (I lent them to him.) Las matches las llaves, not Pablo.
20. Se lo dimos. (We gave it to them.) Recado is one masculine thing, so lo stays singular. Se los dimos would mean we gave them masculine plural things. Adding a los vecinos is fine: Se lo dimos a los vecinos.
21. Se la trajiste. (You brought it to her.) Foto is feminine. Trajiste is the tú preterite of traer.
22. ¿Se las regalaste? (Did you give them to her?) Entradas is feminine plural, so las even though Lucía is one person.
23. Se la he dicho. (I have told it to him.) The pronouns stand in front of he, not after dicho. La matches la verdad. With haber, the participle stays dicho and does not become dicha.
24. Se lo quiero explicar. / Quiero explicárselo. (I want to explain it to them.) Both pronouns stay together. Les lo quiero explicar and Quiero explicarleslo are not the forms. The accent in explicárselo marks the original stress of explicar.
You told several people one secret (el secreto). Which sentence matches the standard agreement?
Action step: Write items 18 and 20 on paper from memory. If the second pronoun went plural because the people were plural, rewrite it while looking at the noun: la regla → la, el recado → lo.
Checking a key tells you the sentence was right. It does not make se lo come out when someone is waiting. In VerbPal the same chunks return on a spaced-repetition schedule, the SM-2 algorithm, and you type them. The Journey keeps the pattern attached to real verbs — dar, decir, explicar — so this set is not the last time you see it. The next drills are the ones that usually break, because the pronouns move and the accent has to move with them.
Try VerbPal free →Drill 4: Infinitives, gerunds, and commands
Two legal positions, and they are both-or-nothing:
- Before the conjugated verb: Te lo quiero decir. (I want to tell it to you.) La estoy leyendo. (I’m reading it.)
- Attached to the infinitive or the gerund: Quiero decírtelo. Estoy leyéndola.
Splitting them, Lo quiero decirte or Estoy la leyendo, is the error. With haber, the pronouns go before the conjugated form, as in item 23: Se la he dicho. They do not attach to the participle.
Affirmative commands take the pronouns on the end. Negative commands put the same pronouns in front and switch to the present subjunctive form: da becomes des, compra becomes compres.
The stress stays where it was before the pronouns joined. Write an accent when that syllable would otherwise be unmarked.
- Infinitive + one pronoun: usually no accent. Leerlo. (To read it.) Darlo. (To give it.) The leer chart is the verb under leerlo and leyéndola.
- Infinitive + two pronouns: accent. Decírtela. Explicárselo. Dármelo.
- Gerund + any pronoun: accent. Leyéndola. Dándoselo.
- One-syllable affirmative command + one pronoun: usually no accent. Dame. (Give me.) Dalo. (Give it.) Hazlo. (Do it.) Dilo. (Say it.)
- One-syllable command + two pronouns: accent. Dámelo. Dímelo. Házmelo.
- Affirmative tú commands already stressed on the next-to-last syllable, like compra on com: accent. Cómpralo. Cómpratelo. (Buy it for yourself.)
¡Dámelo!
(Give it to me.)
¡No me lo des!
(Don’t give it to me.)
Está dándoselo.
(He/she is giving it to him/her/usted/ustedes/them.)
Drill 4: Where the pronouns sit
25. Tú, affirmative: give the book (el libro) to me. → _______
(Give it to me.)
26. Tú, negative: don't give the book (el libro) to me. → _______
(Don't give it to me.)
27. Voy a leer el libro. → _______ / _______
(I'm going to read the book. Both placements.)
28. Estoy leyendo la carta. → _______ / _______
(I'm reading the letter. Both placements.)
29. Tú, affirmative: buy the gift (el regalo) for yourself. → _______
(Buy it for yourself.)
30. Tú, negative: don't buy the gift (el regalo) for yourself. → _______
(Don't buy it for yourself.)
31. Quiero decirte la verdad. → _______ / _______
(I want to tell you the truth. Replace la verdad as well. Both placements.)
32. Está dando el mapa a ellos. → _______ / _______
(He/she is giving the map to them. Replace both. Both placements.)
Show Answer Key: Drill 4
25. ¡Dámelo! (Give it to me.) Accent on dá. Dame el libro has no accent, because one pronoun on da does not need one. Two pronouns do.
26. ¡No me lo des! (Don't give it to me.) Pronouns in front. Des is the negative tú form. Not ¡No dámelo! and not dés.
27. Lo voy a leer. / Voy a leerlo. (I'm going to read it.) Leerlo has no accent. Not Voy a lo leer.
28. La estoy leyendo. / Estoy leyéndola. (I'm reading it.) The gerund needs the accent: leyéndola, not leyendola. Not Estoy la leyendo.
29. ¡Cómpratelo! (Buy it for yourself.) Stress stays on com. Te is “for yourself,” and lo is the gift.
30. ¡No te lo compres! (Don't buy it for yourself.) Te before lo, both before compres. No accent on compres.
31. Te la quiero decir. / Quiero decírtela. (I want to tell it to you.) Decirte has no accent; decírtela does, because la is the second pronoun. Not La quiero decirte.
32. Se lo está dando. / Está dándoselo. (He/she is giving it to them.) Les became se because of lo (el mapa). Adding a ellos is also correct: Se lo está dando a ellos. / Está dándoselo a ellos. Not Se está dándolo, which splits the pair. The accent is on dán.
Action step: Take item 25 and say the three-beat version without looking: Dámelo. No me lo des. Me lo das. Same pronouns, three positions. Then do item 29 the same way: Cómpratelo. No te lo compres. Te lo compras.
Mistakes the answer key marks wrong
These are the lines that look almost right and still fail the key. Say the corrected sentence, not the label.
The accent slid. Damelo, compratelo, dandoselo, and leyendola all lose the stress mark the rule requires. The spoken stress did not move. Dámelo, cómpratelo, dándoselo, and leyéndola put the mark back on the syllable that was already stressed. One pronoun on a short command often needs nothing: Dame el libro. (Give me the book.) Hazlo. (Do it.) Dilo. (Say it.) Add a second pronoun and the accent appears: Dímelo. (Say it to me.) Házmelo. (Do it for me.) The negative stays separate: No me lo digas. (Don’t say it to me.) No me lo hagas. (Don’t do it for me.)
The pronouns split. Voy a te lo dar, Estoy lo leyendo, and Se está dándolo each park one pronoun in a slot Spanish does not use. Both pronouns travel together, in front of the conjugated verb or on the infinitive or gerund.
Le stayed le. Le lo di and Les lo quiero explicar are the drill-3 error. Repaint le/les as se before you add lo/la/los/las.
The thing changed number to match the people. Se los dije for one secreto, and se las expliqué for one regla, make the second pronoun agree with the listeners. Standard agreement uses the noun you replaced. You will hear the other pattern. The key on this page does not.
El agua and el problema swapped gender. Lo traigo for the water, and la vemos for the problem, follow the article or the ending and miss the noun. La traigo. (I’m bringing it.) Lo vemos. (We see it.) Vemos is the nosotros present of ver.
A person who is the direct object took le. Llamo a Lucía is La llamo, not Le llamo. The a does not make her indirect. For a man, Lo vi (I saw him) is correct in every variety. In Spain, Le vi is also accepted when the direct object is one masculine person. It is not the accepted stand-in for a woman, and it is not the stand-in for a thing. For several men as a direct object, the standard form is Los vi (I saw them), not Les vi. If you want one system you can use anywhere, produce lo and la for direct objects, which is what these drills score.
Usted, if you need it. The formal affirmative of dar is dé. One attached pronoun drops the written accent, because the stress now falls where ordinary spelling expects it: Deme el libro. (Give me the book.) Two pronouns need the accent back: Démelo. (Give it to me.) The negative keeps dé as its own word, pronouns in front: No me lo dé. (Don’t give it to me.) Do not copy that dé onto the tú negative. Tú is No me lo des.
A missing accent is invisible in a multiple-choice click. It is obvious the moment you have to type dándoselo. That is the production habit our drills are built around: you write the string, accent included, and the forms you miss come back later instead of disappearing into a green checkmark.
Action step: Copy the eight corrected spellings into a note — Dámelo, Dímelo, Házmelo, Cómpratelo, leyéndola, dándoselo, explicárselo, decírtela — and the four that should not have an extra accent — dame, dilo, hazlo, leerlo. Tomorrow, cover the list and write them again.
Frequently asked questions
Where do object pronouns go on a negative Spanish command?
Before the verb, as separate words. No me lo des means don't give it to me. On an affirmative tú command they attach and may need an accent: Dámelo. The verb form changes too: affirmative tú of dar is da, and negative tú is des.
Why is it se lo and not le lo?
Spanish does not put le or les directly before lo, la, los, or las. Le and les change to se, and the direct pronoun follows: se lo, se la, se los, se las. Se lo di means I gave it to him, her, usted, ustedes, or them. For tú, say te lo di, not se lo di.
If I tell one thing to several people, does lo become los?
No. Lo, la, los, and las match the thing, not the people. One secret told to several people is se lo dije, because secreto is masculine singular. Se los dije is the standard form when the thing itself is masculine plural. You will hear se los for a singular thing in many places; these drills follow agreement with the thing.
When do attached pronouns need a written accent?
When the original stress would otherwise be unmarked. Dámelo, cómpratelo, leyéndola, dándoselo, and explicárselo keep the stress where it was before the pronouns attached. Dame, dalo, hazlo, dilo, and leerlo do not need an extra accent, because the stress already falls where Spanish spelling expects it.
Is le vi correct Spanish for I saw him?
Lo vi is correct everywhere for a man. In Spain, le vi is also accepted when le is the direct object for one masculine person. For a woman, the standard form is la vi. For a thing, use lo or la to match the noun. For a group of men as a direct object, the standard form is los vi, not les vi. These drills use lo and la for direct objects.